Research Guides: Chemistry: Chemistry Home

We Recommend

Scifinder
Useful for locating research articles in all areas of chemistry. Has property and reaction information for molecules and allows you to search by structure.
Web of Science
Cross-search multiple databases including the Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Book Citation Index, and Conference Proceedings Citation Index, as well as Chemical Indexes.

PubChem Compound
Free source with assembled information about compounds from a variety of sources -- ranging from user-submitted information to vetted, well-regarded sources. PubChem Compund is useful for looking up basic information about a compound and for getting citations that link out to other sources of information about that compound.

Research Articles

PubMed
The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) foremost biomedical and life sciences database. Includes citations and abstracts from MEDLINE, life sciences journals, and online books.
Reaxys
Incorporating Beilstein, Gmelin, and Reaxys Medicinal Chemistry, offers a wealth of experimentally-validated physico-chemical data and preparation methods. Presents a new approach to synthetic chemistry with powerful functionality.
Scifinder
Useful for locating research articles in all areas of chemistry. Has property and reaction information for molecules and allows you to search by structure.
Web of Science
Cross-search multiple databases including the Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Book Citation Index, and Conference Proceedings Citation Index, as well as Chemical Indexes.

Properties & Background Information

PubChem Compound
Free source with assembled information about compounds from a variety of sources -- ranging from user-submitted information to vetted, well-regarded sources. PubChem Compund is useful for looking up basic information about a compound and for getting citations that link out to other sources of information about that compound.
Science of Synthesis
Contains evaluated methods and comparative reviews for synthetic chemistry.

CHEMnetBASE
A collection of chemical and chemical-related dictionaries, including the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Quick search function allows users to perform searches on chemical terms and structures simultaneously across the entire database.
AccessScience
Online encyclopedia of science, mathematics and technology.
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
Details the science and technology in all areas of industrial chemistry, including inorganic and organic chemicals, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, polymers and plastics, metals and alloys, biotechnology and biotechnological products, etc.
Knovel Library
E-books and other reference works in engineering, chemistry and biochemistry, earth and environmental sciences, and other areas. Utilizes interactive tables with customizable data, charts, graphs, and equations.

c&en (Chemical & Engineering News)
A trade magazine in chemistry that includes both news in chemical industry and introductory summaries of recent research.
ChemSpider
Crowdsourced collection of chemical structures with links to books and research articles on compounds, supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Spectra, Structure and Drawing

NIST Chemistry WebBook
Provides access to data compiled by the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Sigma-Aldrich
Chemical catalog that includes FT-IR, NMR, RAMAN Spectra for many compounds, as well as safety data sheets.
Spectral Database for Organic Compounds (SBDS)
Includes MS, IR, Raman, and NMR spectra, allows for searching both by shift or peak and by compound
ChemOffice Professional
Drawing and analysis software for chemistry and biology. The College of Humanities and Sciences pays for a university-wide license to this tool.
Wiley Analytical Science Magazine
News, pre-prints, tutorials and conference information for atomic spectroscopy, IR, MRI, MS, NMR, Raman, and X-Ray.
Organic Structure Elucidation: A Workbook of Unknowns
Each unknown has IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectral data. Website authors: Dr. Bradley D. Smith, Dr. Bill Rogers, Dr. Jaroslav Zajicek, University of Notre Dame

Writing and Citing

ZoteroBib
A site to quickly get (mostly correct) formatted references in just about any citation style, including ACS.
ACS Style Quick Guide
Sample citations in ACS format, for quick lookups to format citations by hand.
ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication
Online style guide with information on writing in science, including a chapters on citing sources using ACS citation styles and on ethics in scientific writing and publication.
Citation Tools / Reference Managers Research Guide
Information about Mendeley, Zotero and other tools for storing and automaticaly formatting references
CASSI, Chemistry Journal Abbreviation Lookup
Tool to find the CAS abbreviation for journal titles or find the title of a journal from an abbreviation.
Cite My Sources and Avoid Plagiarism
Guide to help you learn when and how to cite your sources.
Write a Literature Review
Tutorials and tips for writing a literature review.

Safety (including Safety Data Sheets)

Occupational Health and Safety standards require chemical distributors to supply safety data sheets (SDS) to consumers. If you are purchasing a chemical, the SDS should be obtainable from the supplier.

Fisher Scientific
Direct link to the SDS search portion of the Fisher Scientific catalogs
PubChem Compound
PubChem compound does not contain SDS in the standardardized format but does contain safety information for a wider array of compounds than may be covered in catalogs. Safety information can be found in the "safety and hazards" section of the results, with links to additional sources for more information.
Sigma-Aldrich
Chemical catalog that includes safety data sheets.
VCU Occupational Health and Safety - Chemical Safety
Provides access to VCU-specific chemical safety information and procedures. For VCU employees, Safety Data Sheets can be found in SciShield (formerly BioRAFT).

Chemistry

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